Top 5: Hemingway Haunts in Key West

Ernest Hemingway fell in love with Key West and made it his home in 1928. While living there he wrote some of this century’s most important works, including A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon and, his homage to the island, To Have and Have Not. Visitors can still get a taste of Hemingway and his Key West at these locales.

The mecca is the Hemingway Home & Museum, the Spanish Colonial Villa where the author resided during his tenure. The property is now a National Historic Landmark and visitors will be delighted by where he lived, wrote and caroused. The unique six-toed Hemingway cats are a highlight.

Papa’s first residence, however, was Casa Antigua. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the gardens, though the house itself is privately owned.

Captain Tony’s Saloon and Sloppy Joe’s Bar compete to call themselves Hemingway’s favorite hangout. Legends about the man abound at either bar: he almost certainly met his third wife at Sloppy Joe’s. He also took home a urinal claiming rights to it by frequent usage.

Over its 100-year history, the Blue Heaven hosted cockfights, a bordello, a playhouse and boxing matches, over which Hemingway used to preside. Today it is restaurant and favorite haunt of Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney.

Finally, though it has changed over the years, a stroll along Mallory Square and the pier will help visitors appreciate the sea as Hemingway once did. They will also be able to study human nature and have a drink because, let’s be honest, that’s what Papa would have done.

Also, don’t miss the Hemingway Days held annually during the summer. The fair features a look-alike contest, literary contest, readings and book signings, “Running of the Bulls,” and a three-day marlin tournament.